Gladdest Hours: Caroline

Somewhere in Seattle, WA is a man who saved our backs. Literally. About four years ago Pete took the girls to a park on a Saturday morning so that I could do my 1-hour-whirlwind-house-cleaning. (I don't do that anymore, btw. Now, when he leaves the house with them, I do something that doesn't involve being on my feet.) But, I digress....

While he was at the park, he started talking to another dad who was teaching his 3 yo how to ride a bike. His process was so ingenius that I couldn't believe we had never heard of it. Surely we were the only parents on the face of the early who hadn't heard of this! THIS is what should be on the evening news! THIS is what should go in those crazy-well-baby/child-mailings that I get from our beloved governor that cost tons of tax dollars, that say brilliant things like, "Your child will become more mobile, so pay attention and don't let them touch the stove."

But, so far, of the people that I've told about this, and I HAVE told lots (I get kind of "excited" and a bit "over-exuberant" about some things :) NO ONE realizes HOW EASY it actually can be to teach a child how to ride a 2-wheel-bike! They can basically teach themselves with a few easy changes to the traditional process.

Now, let me preface this by saying, I'm usually not a fan for "pushing to learn things early." I'm definitely on the "better late than early" spectrum of things. But this is different....especially for younger children with older siblings who want to do what the olders are doing and keep up and play their games. And, no matter WHEN you teach a child to ride a bike, you are cutting your horrible-bending-over-back-wrenching-time down to about 5 minutes!!! And for those of us approaching our 40's and 50's who don't have children old enough to take over bike-duty, this is GREAT!

****************BIKE RIDING FOR PRE-SCHOOLERS 101 *****************

Somewhere between the ages of 2.5 and 4, a child can go from scooter/tricycle/other to a COASTER BIKE. COASTER BIKES are simply a 2-wheel-bike, in a super-small size (usually a 12" wheel/tire) that:

has no pedals
is low enough to the ground to feel secure
has the seat moved very low so feet can touch the ground easily

They sell "real coaster bikes" in all the specialty bike shops for $200-400 dollars...(give me a break)...OR, you can go to KMart and buy a regular 12" bike for $30, remove the pedals, and lower the seat. OR....our favorite is to keep an eye out for free 12" bikes that people are trying to get rid of at the end of their driveways on the weekends, and remove the pedals. Here is our COASTER BIKE:

Pete just took the pedals off and lowered the seat. The idea is that the child is learning that feeling of BALANCE long before they have to pedal. One thing at a time. Balance now. Pedal later. Right now they can self-teach themselves to balance by first getting on the bike, touching their feet to the ground and just pushing themselves along. As they become more confident and their balance gets better, they lift their feet more often and for longer periods of time and basically "ride" their bike....just without the pedals. It also helps if there is a slight hill for them to ride on, so that they get the feeling of going quicker and gliding.....they just naturally lift their feet. Voila! Caroline started riding her COASTER BIKE last spring right before her third birthday. Here she is cruising around the driveway:

In the woods:

Coasting along after going down the slight hill on our neighbor's driveway:

This is highly superior to riding a 2-wheel-bike with training wheels for two reasons:

It's WAY MORE FUN!!!!! Training wheels are boring and slow and tippy! Yuck!
Training wheels don't teach them to BALANCE, which is what riding a bike is all about!

OK, so once they get really good on their COASTER BIKE, there are 2 options:

Put the pedals back on the COASTER BIKE. Not our preferred option. What if you put the pedals back on and Johnny isn't ready to ride with pedals on? Then you have to take them back off! According to Pete, putting pedals on and off is a pain, so we don't do this. Plus, EVERYONE loves the coaster bike, so it's never NOT being used.
Get another 12" bike, leave the pedals on, no training wheels. This is what we do. So, we have two 12" bikes around here at all times.

When you and/or they think they are ready, you help them learn how to rotate the pedals and walk/run along side them for about FIVE MINUTES!!!!!! If they're ready, that's all you'll have to do!

About 2 weeks ago, Pete spent 5 minutes with Caroline who is 3.5 years old, and she HAD IT!

Dorothy Jo was just shy of age 4 when she rode on her own, and Pete remembers Dorothy Jo doing the same thing.....FIVE MINUTES and she was riding on her own.

More pics of Caroline a couple weeks ago:

Novice Bike-Riders also need to watch out for Mini-Pedestrians! Where's the Crossing Guard??? Hmmmph...she must be busy taking pictures.

This is such a great way for a child to learn how to ride a bike at their own pace! They are completely in charge of this process with a bit of gentle help of a parent at the beginning of each stage. They can practice on their own, gaining more and more confidence. Balance learned on the COASTER BIKE is key!

And, no back aches for the elderly parents. :)